Kerry and Stowe Revisited

Abstract

The Stowe Mıssal provıdes evıdence for a lıturgical culture in whıch the liturgical building was intended to house only the celebrant bishops and priests during the Mıssa Fıdelium, the congregation, and probably the deacon, remaining outside except when (and if) they entered to receive the Lord's body and blood. The Stowe Missal and other Irish texts retain diaconal formulae that may have been used outside the building while the sacerdotal liturgy continued inside. 'Monastic' sites on the Iveragh Peninsula of County Kerry provide evidence supplementary to and convergent with that of the texts. The external congregation, often probably considerable, may have been arranged according to category at different distances from the building. Although an 'oratory' may have been small, the ritual and 'priestcraft' that took place within (although out of sight of the worshippers) is likely to have been anything but plain and simple.